Free Online Essays In English Literature

Every time I've taught George Orwell’s famous 1946 essay on misleading, smudgy writing, “Politics and the English Language," to a group of undergraduates, we've delighted in pointing out the number of times Orwell violates his own rules—indulges some form of vague, “pretentious” diction, slips into unnecessary passive voice, etc. It’s a petty exercise, and Orwell himself provides an escape clause for his list of rules for writing clear English: “Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.” But it has made us all feel slightly better for having our writing crutches pushed out from under us.

Orwell’s essay, writes the L.A. Times’ Pulitzer-Prize winning columnist Michael Hiltzik, “stands as the finest deconstruction of slovenly writing since Mark Twain’s “Fenimore Cooper’s Literary Offenses.” Where Twain’s essay takes on a pretentious academic establishment that unthinkingly elevates bad writing, “Orwell makes the connection between degraded language and political deceit (at both ends of the political spectrum).” With this concise description, Hiltzik begins his list of Orwell’s five greatest essays, each one a bulwark against some form of empty political language, and the often brutal effects of its “pure wind.”

One specific example of the latter comes next on Hiltzak’s list (actually a series he has published over the month) in Orwell’s 1949 essay on Gandhi. The piece clearly names the abuses of the imperial British occupiers of India, even as it struggles against the canonization of Gandhi the man, concluding equivocally that “his character was extraordinarily a mixed one, but there was almost nothing in it that you can put your finger on and call bad.” Orwell is less ambivalent in Hiltzak’s third choice, the spiky 1946 defense of English comic writer P.G. Wodehouse, whose behavior after his capture during the Second World War understandably baffled and incensed the British public. The last two essays on the list, “You and the Atomic Bomb” from 1945 and the early “A Hanging," published in 1931, round out Orwell's pre- and post-war writing as a polemicist and clear-sighted political writer of conviction. Find all five essays free online at the links below. And find some of Orwell's greatest works in our collection of Free eBooks.

1. "Politics and the English Language"

2. "Reflections on Gandhi"

3. "In Defense of P.G. Wodehouse"

4. "You and the Atomic Bomb"

5. "A Hanging"

Related Content:

George Orwell’s 1984: Free eBook, Audio Book & Study Resources

The Only Known Footage of George Orwell (Circa 1921)

George Orwell and Douglas Adams Explain How to Make a Proper Cup of Tea

Josh Jones is a writer and musician based in Durham, NC. Follow him at @jdmagness

At MarvelousEssays.com you can find English literature essay writing of the highest standards from high school assignments right up to university dissertations. We are a well established company, and after many years of providing thousands of essays to satisfied customers, we are proud to say that we are one of the best service around.

Whatever subject you choose within the English Literature genre, we will match you with a suitably experienced writer. Common topics include Tolkien, Walter Scott, Charles Dickens, Jane Austen and Byron. Other dissertations that our writers have successfully submitted to customers include authors such as Thomas Mann, Ellen Wood, Bram Stoker, Joseph Conrad and T.S Eliot. Maybe you are looking for help with an English literature essay on the writings of Arnold Bennett, Aphra Behns, Yerma, Primo Levi or E.M Hull? Well we will find which of our expert writers is the most knowledgeable in your chosen author.

An English literature essay is not an easy task and takes immense amounts of concentration and persistence to get right. Depending on your professor's specifications, you may have to limit your subject to certain genres such as American or English Literature. A good English literature essay will include a strong understand and knowledge of the culture and society in which the author wrote their literature. World Literature papers may include information on a number of different cultures. In order to obtain substantial information for an English literature essay, you must do a large amount of research from reading critisizms to fully understanding the literature itself.

What makes English literature essay writing particularly difficult is the restraints that the academics institutions put on students. You must make sure to keep to the precise writing styles and do the citations in the correct way. You must also make sure to not make any grammatical or spelling errors. At MarvelousEssays.com, you can buy a completely checked, 100% original English literature essay. Our expert writers can write on a variety of topics and within the contraints of the shortest of deadlines. If you are looking for some help with your English literature essay then MarvelousEssays.com can solve your problems for an amazingly cheap price. We can guarantee all of our customers that the custom essay that they receive is completely unique and of an extremely high standard.

The customer service representatives at MarvelousEssays.com are fully knowledgeable in everything associated with your order, so you can ask them any questions that you need to know. You can also communicate online with your personal writer so that they can fully understand all of the instructions given by your professor.

Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Pinterest

Get a Price Quote:

* Final order price might be slightly different depending on the current exchange rate of chosen payment system.